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Ebola screenings begin at JFK airport

Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. customs commissioner, explains enhanced screening at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport of travelers arriving from Ebola-affected countries.

Ebola screenings began Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport for travelers coming from the most-affected West African countries in an effort to curb the spread of the disease in the U.S.

About two dozen flights with some passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea were expected to land at JFK Saturday, according to officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport. Each of those flights is expected to have about three or four passengers from the affected regions, officials said.

No direct flights from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea were arriving to JFK Saturday, Port Authority officials said. All of the flights with passengers from those countries were first connecting in European cities, including Paris and Brussels.

JFK airport is the first U.S. airport to begin screenings for Ebola. Washington Dulles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport will begin screenings next week.

Those five airports account for 94% of the 150 travelers who arrive daily from the most affected countries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over the past 12 months, JFK received about half of the passengers from those countries entering into the U.S., according to the CDC.

In its latest update, the World Health Organization said 4,033 people had died of confirmed, suspected or probable cases of Ebola.